Mara Helmuth

Mara Helmuth (Margaret Mathilda Helmuth) composes music often involving the computer, and creates multimedia and software for composition and improvisation. Her recordings include Sound Collaborations, (CDCM v.36, Centaur CRC 2903), Implements of Actuation (Electronic Music Foundation EMF 023), Sounding Out! (Everglade) and works included on Open Space CD 16 and the 50th Anniversary University of Illinois Experimental Music Studios commemorative collection. Her work has been performed internationally at conferences, festivals and arts spaces. She is on the faculty of the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati and director of the Center for Computer Music there. She holds a D.M.A. from Columbia University, and earlier degrees (M.M., B.A.) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her software for composition and improvisation has involved granular synthesis, user interfaces, Internet2, and contributions to the RTcmix music programming language. Her writings have appeared in the monographs Audible Traces and Analytical Methods of Electroacoustic Music, and in the Journal of New Music Research and Perspectives of New Music. Recent installations Hidden Mountain (2007) and Staircase of Light (2003) were created for the Sino-Nordic Arts Space in Beijing. She is a recent president of the International Computer Music Association. She also plays piano and performs interactive works on computer. She participated in Deep Listening(r) retreats in 2000 and 2010. Her interest in Zen, Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese culture has taken her to remote monasteries and mountains.Bio courtesy of her website.

Dissertation

"Meeting the Free Dreamer": An exploration of computer music composition

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